Westoe system

[Bryan]

Found these 2 sites yesterday.
No Steam no Gresley or Thompson coaches, can't see much signalling.
So I don't think it will hold any interest at all for anybody on here except for one or two individuals.

Or will I be proved wrong?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwf200 ... 462340530/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishswiss ... 588621207/

[Rlangham]

Definitely of interest here! (Unless I was already counted as one of those individuals), keep meaning to pick up the Middleton Press book on the system, I find it fascinating that it was using such a stock of electric locomotives pre-WW1. Just published a post on my blog about the 1913 AEG bo-bo from the system (http://electric-edwardians.blogspot.co. ... -1913.html) and just set up another one for the other 1913 loco preserved, a Siemens at Tanfield - there's another Siemens four wheeled locomotive identical to the Tanfield one at display at Beamish (E2), and the Siemens BO-BO E4 at the Stephenson Railway Museum which i'm yet to see, so plenty of former locomotives from the system preserved

[DaveF]

I'm pleased you are finding my photos interesting (they are the ones at http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwf200 ... 462340530/ ).

I just wish now, with hindsight, that I had got there earlier - but there was always so much to see and do after I moved to the north east in 1980.

I'm sure Ernie will also be pleased you like the photos on his flickr site - we've been mates for a long time.

I don't think I have any more of Westoe, but I will have a look in the next few days.

David

[limitofshunt]

No Steam no Gresley or Thompson coaches, can't see much signalling.
So I don't think it will hold any interest at all for anybody on here except for one or two individuals.

That's a bit of a narrow-minded view, isn't it? Just because it isn't of interest to you doesn't mean it isn't if interest to lots of other people. Or have I missed the rules that say all posts on this board must relate to steam or Gresley coaches?

Some great photos as usual in David's collection... A fascinating look at how the area used to be.

[60800]

Quite interesting to me too. Not just because of the 'lectrics, but becasue my granddad grew up in South Shields. Eddie Patterson if anyone on here has heard of him. He designed a chunk of turnouts on the Docklands light railway, he sadly passed away a few months ago.

[Blink Bonny]

Ay up!

Despite not being from the North East or the fact that there are no steam locos or coaches, I still find them very interesting. Super photos.

Many thanks.

More Industrial fans than we realise in here.

[Bryan]

No Steam no Gresley or Thompson coaches, can't see much signalling.
So I don't think it will hold any interest at all for anybody on here except for one or two individuals.

That's a bit of a narrow-minded view, isn't it? Just because it isn't of interest to you doesn't mean it isn't if interest to lots of other people. Or have I missed the rules that say all posts on this board must relate to steam or Gresley coaches?

Some great photos as usual in David's collection... A fascinating look at how the area used to be.

Not narrow minded at all.
I didn't say anything wasn't of interest to me or not as I tend to take a very broad view of transport history in its entirety rather than focus in too much on particular subjects with the odd exception.
Its just that over the last year a great proportion of the posts have been broadly about those subjects.
However if anyone feels I am in the wrong I will apologise for it.

As for the photos The reason I posted the link was that I thought they were worthy of a wider audience and I too think they are excellent.

[Rlangham]

Westoe locomotives;



E9 of 1913, BO-BO built by AEG of Germany - a very low locomotive, hence the bars on the cab roof to get the pantograph higher up! Located in the sidings at the Tanfield Railway (in the line of stock behind the large blue crane)



E10 of 1913, 4 wheeled locomotive built by Siemens of Germany, located in the Tanfield Railway's 5 road shed



E2 of 1907, 4 wheeled locomotive built by Siemens of Germany, located at Beamish together with the large steam excavator near the Tram shed/Regional Resource Centre (the modern building), keep walking past the 1917 Coles steam railway crane and you'll find it - knew it was there for years but only went and saw it back in July)

So that's three VERY early electric locomotives within about 1 or 2 miles of each other! The other Harton Electric Locomotive is here - http://www.ntsra.org.uk/stock.html (E4 of 1909, scroll down the page, it says on this website 'approx 1912' but elsewhere it says 1909)

[Arpster]

The Railscene video magazine number 16 (now available on DVD here: http://railwayrecollections.com/product ... mn-1988-2/) has some excellent footage of the Westoe system in its latter years. The speed some of those ageing electrics got up to and the squealing of the wagon wheels on the tight curves have to be seen to be believed!

Arp

[robertcwp]

The system was the inspiration for the Carshalton & Sutton MRC's P4 layout 'Harton Gill' largely constructed by Graham Broad.

Its most recent outing was at Folkestone last weekend. It will be at Utrecht the weekend after next.






I'm not a club member but I help to move and operate the layout.

[Rlangham]

Is that the one that was at the Tanfield gala back in September? Must upload a couple of photos, had models of two of the preserved BO-BO's, 1913 AEG built E9 now at Tanfield and 1909 built Siemens built E4, now at Stephenson Railway Museum

[robertcwp]

Is that the one that was at the Tanfield gala back in September? Must upload a couple of photos, had models of two of the preserved BO-BO's, 1913 AEG built E9 now at Tanfield and 1909 built Siemens built E4, now at Stephenson Railway Museum

If you mean Harton Gill, no it was not at Tanfield but it did appear at the model railway exhibition at North Shields last August Bank Holiday.

[strang steel]

I'm pleased you are finding my photos interesting (they are the ones at http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidwf200 ... 462340530/ ).

I just wish now, with hindsight, that I had got there earlier - but there was always so much to see and do after I moved to the north east in 1980.

I'm sure Ernie will also be pleased you like the photos on his flickr site - we've been mates for a long time.

I don't think I have any more of Westoe, but I will have a look in the next few days.

David

Yes, very interesting indeed, thanks David.

However, at the same time they are exposing my ignorance because I never realised that the system existed into the 1980s . My brothers' wife is from South Shields and had I not assumed that it had all been swept away by the 1960s modernisation, I could have made use of my camera when the wife and I spent some time up there prior to her wedding in the 1970s.

Oh well. At least I have these excellent photos to remind me of what I missed even though it may have been just around the corner.